BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University's Office of Enrollment Management has won the Hobsons Visionary Award, an annual award presented to an institution of higher education that demonstrates a unique, innovative vision in recruitment efforts.

The award comes after a year of groundbreaking new recruitment initiatives for IU. The university partnered with Hobsons Integrated Marketing Solutions to create IU videos personalized with individual students' names, which reached more than 20,000 admitted students. This year's campaign also featured postcards bearing individual students' names on the license plate of a Jeep along with the number of miles from their hometown to IU on a street sign.

"During the college search process, each student wants to know that they are important to the institutions that they are considering," said David Johnson, interim vice provost for Enrollment Management. "At IU, we have been able to provide personalized recruitment through print, video and online engagement. It is through these efforts that we have built relationships with students."

IU was chosen from a pool composed of more than 500 national and international collegiate institutions. The award was presented June 30 at the annual "Connect U" conference in Minneapolis, a three-day conference of training, networking, and sharing of best practices in admissions and enrollment management with more than 700 enrollment management professionals in attendance.

"The entire Office of Enrollment Management at IU takes a view of higher education and the recruitment and retention of students that is light years ahead of what many other institutions are doing," said Chriz Zahumensky, director of strategic solutions at Hobsons. "The Hobsons Visionary Award speaks volumes to each and every member of that team going above and beyond to meet their challenging goals -- and I believe the results speak for themselves."

IU staff presented two sessions at the conference: "The Next Big Thing" and "Hoosier Student? Use Surveys to Connect with Students." The other finalists for the award were University of Alabama and University of Toledo.